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Spanish and British workers join in rejecting Walsh’s Iberia cuts

Iberia workers rally against job cuts Iberia workers beginning their second phase of industrial action today are being supported by their international colleagues. As they kick off a week of demonstrations in Spain they will be joined by delegations fr …

Iberia workers beginning their second phase of industrial action today are being supported by their international colleagues. As they kick off a week of demonstrations in Spain they will be joined by delegations from unions supporting their struggle to prevent the loss of thousands of jobs at the airline.

British Airways staff will also be showing their support for Iberia workers and their rejection of the IAG plans in the United Kingdom. The Unite union’s general secretary, Len McLuskey, will today unveil a giant banner outside the union’s office in London Heathrow Airport – reading Déjà vu Willie Walsh, IAG: We are all Iberia, IAG: Iberia somos todos – ahead of a demonstration outside the IAG offices by Unite BA members at the airport on Wednesday. Unite is the UK’s largest trade union and represents personnel across British Airways.

ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) civil aviation secretary Gabriel Mocho commented: “IAG is more than just any one airline, it is a community of workers. They have made it plain that they are all in this together. They will all stand up for the threatened staff and for a successful Iberia and British Airways.”

He continued: “We are pleased to see that even the conservative Spanish government, a shareholder in IAG, is showing its alarm over the company’s reckless plans, which tear up the proposals negotiated by the Spanish unions for phased cost cutting and redundancies.”

Unite general secretary Len McLuskey commented: “If Willie Walsh thinks British Airways staff will keep quiet while he attacks their colleagues in Iberia he is wrong. We all support those threatened by Walsh’s reckless plans. The message from Britain to IAG is clear: We are all Iberia.”

Walton Pantland

South African trade unionist living in Glasgow. Loves whisky, wine, running and the great outdoors. Walton did an MA in Industrial Relations at Ruskin, Oxford, and is interested in how trade unions use new technology to organise.